Bend It Like Brandy

When it comes to talk of Brandy, Cognac usually gets top billing. And don’t get us wrong — it’s damn good stuff. But it’s far from the only game in town. In fact, if you point your coordinates to Gascony, you’ll be rewarded with Cognac’s older, less-demanding cousin Armagnac, which predates Cognac by a good 200 years. It also isn’t as much of a stickler for the grapes, stills and barrels it uses in the production process, which gives it some kicky variation that’ll keep your palate guessing. The Spanish also have some skin in the game, using American oak barrels and the solera aging method to produce their sweet and smooth Brandy de Jerez. And not to be outdone, our Armenian friends — who’ve been producing Brandy since the 12th century — double-distill their juice in oak casks and was once the favored tipple of Russian czars. In this box, we’ve lined up a powerhouse tasting of all three: the well-rounded and fruit-forward Domaine Tariquet Bas-Armagnac XO, the smooth and seduct